As much as I love my job, it isn’t always easy photographing beautiful homes and offices all the time. Nearly every building inspires me with something I would like to do to my own home, which I hardly have room for. After looking at a lot of styling, I started to want a green velvet sofa intensely, but all the ones that were perfect were outside my budget. So, I decided to make my own. Kind of.
How to make a slip-cover sofa:
I was able to get this vintage 70’s couch from a friend. The patterns are actually pretty cool, but stained and faded in places. The update was fairly simple, first we removed the old plastic floor protectors (which were half broken anyway) and replaced them with taller gold legs so the sofa would blend better with our more modern furniture. It was nice being able to choose the height because I made it exactly tall enough to hide and charge my robot vacuum. Then I purchased a forest green slipcover I found on Amazon.
Is it hard to make a slipcover?
That depends. This is where things got a little tricky. I couldn’t find a slipcover for the kind of arms/back my sofa has, that was in the exact color I wanted. I ended up cutting a hole in the seat of the slipcover so it would stretch better and then I hid the extra fabric behind the back of the sofa. If you can find a slipcover with a better fit then no need to worry. I will say that having the arms and back of the sofa the same height does seem to hide the fact that it is a sofa cover better. It looked great!
Here is where I will save you a lot of time. The final step was getting the slipcover to stay in place. I tried the foam cylinders the cover came with, they kept popping out. I tried using gorilla tape but had to keep replacing it. I tried using safety pins, and that led to some uncomfortable stabs. Finally, I had the idea to use suspenders. I went to the thrift store and got a couple. One, I put on the back of the sofa, where it is hidden by the wall. Another I put under the sofa where it was completely hidden.
The suspenders started working so well that I decided to invest in some more for the top of the sofa. This time I bought the smaller kind that are used to keep sheets in place. These worked well under the cushions and the cushion covers themselves.
Some final tips:
- Try to find a slipcover that has separate covers for the seat cushions and backrest cushions, they look more authentic.
- Purchase pillows that are a little taller than the back of your sofa to hide imperfections.
- Remember that fabric fades with time, so rotate the seat covers if possible so they fade in a more even way.
Are Slipcovers worth it?
Absolutely, I love the benefits of a slipcover, knowing that I can refresh my couch whenever I want and that there will be much less waist because of it. I like being able to take it off and throw it in the washing machine, instead of hand-cleaning the sofa. The only real maintenance is that it needs to be retucked again here and there.
Stefany Hedman Images 